For lo ! to them of old time it was enough if only they were not hurt by wild beasts, and this single

con-sideration

was

theend in viewin their fight against

them

^: but those

who came

after and learned their use, took advantage of their bodies for food,

and

of their hair for clothing;

and

for healing, too, they took matter from

them

; they

armed

themselves with their claws,and covered themselves with their hides; so that in consequence of this

2

A TRACT

it is to be feared that

when

the beasts have disappeared

from our life, our

own

life

may become

^as that of the

beasts, in which resources will not be found, though wild-ness

may

be.

Now

since for

most men

it suffices that their enemies

do them

no damage, but

Xenophon,

on the other hand, said that they are very profitable to the wise

man

^(and

on this point one

must

not doubt);

we

will

examine how

this advantage ^is to be found. For the examination of it is needful for us,

who

cannot live without enemies. For thegardener cannot change every tree for the better, nor again is it easy for the hunterto

tame

all beasts; yet they understand

how by

^certain

means

to derive profit from wild things^: and

we may

see the planter deriving advan-tage from fruitless trees, and the hunter from wild beasts.

The

waters of the sea ^{are salt} and very bitter, but they

grow

fish at all parts of their depths and conduct mer-chants

on

theirwaves. Fire,again, burns

him who comes

near to it, but it shews light

and

diffuses warmth,

and

is

the

means

for ^all handicrafts that

know how

to use it.

See ^if the

enemy

be^{not like to these in that while in} one direction a

man

approaches

him

warily, in others he fulfils

our need

and

is profitable.

And we may

see

many

things which, while they ^are antagonistic to us

and

hurt us, are in other respects useful to us.

How many

have fallen into bodily sickness,

and

their sickness has

humbled them

and restrained

them

from ^evil!

How many

have fallen on toil,

and

the toil has given strength

and

hardness to their

members;

others have been deprived of their country

and

their fortunes,

and

they have

made

useofbothlossesasfood for the journey, and they

became

to

them

the

means

of rest and of useful occupation, as in the case of Diogenes

and

Crates. Zeno,

when

he heard that the ship, which

had

been sent

by him

^{to sea,}

had

been wrecked, answered

OF PLUTARCH

3

and

said :

' It is well for me, so that I

may

turn to

philosophy.' For as those animals

whose

stomachs are sound, if theyeat snails orscorpions, digest

them

;

and

as others feed on pebbles

and

clay, and through the

warmth

of their stomachs, digest

them

; but those,

whose

stomach

is weak,

become

^ill even if they get sustenance of bread

and

wine; in the

same way

the fools are

wont

even

by

friendship to get

damage,

while the wise profit

by

enmity,

making good

use ofit.

For lo ! that which is considered the most difficult, is

for the discriminating the

most

profitable; it is this; he (the

enemy)

searches out thy

ways

of living

and

does not sleep from examining thy steps and trying to find a cause against thee, while he turns hither

and

thither; therefore watchfulness does not hurt thee, but recalls thee to useful behaviour. For the

enemy

does not

make

his inquisition carelessly; forhis gaze enters, as it were, through thewalls ofthy house,

and

his spypierces the stones of thy dwelling, yea! he plunders the very

mind

ofthyfriends,and through thy neighbourshe spies out thy works andgets thy secrets from the midst of thy beloved

by

^gifts which he offers them.

For

people are very often, through carelessness, in the habit of not noticing even the death of their friends

:

but enemies enquireeven about the thingsthat theysee in their dreams.

And

if illness

come upon

a man, or if he takes a loan or has a quarrel with his wife, his enemies perceive it before his friends. But especially their glance keeps to the failings'of their foes, and from all quarters they search

them

out.

And

^as the vultures

by

scent are gathered on carcases, while they

do

not at all perceive sound bodies; so also enemies

come down and

gather on

evil

ways

and dead deeds, and

draw

near to

them and

tear them.

And

this is profitable; yea^! beloved, it is great profit,that

we become

watchful over our

ways

and

examine

4 A TRACT

our persons

and do

nothing carelessly and say nothing thoughtlessly, but that

we

beblameless in all our steps, for herein the danger lies.

By

chastising our passions

and

warning our thoughts he increases in us the study to live soberly and without reproof.

For

as towns against which

war

is raised

by

their neighbours

and

against which armies advance, areconstantly

weaned

from their evil customs

and

are governed according to law instead of being in revolu-tion, thus also

many

are reproved

by

reason of enmity:

they

become awake and

watchful

and

are not ready to

do

anything lightly,

and by and by

they learn not to fail

again and they adorn themselves with virtue and are alarmed even at blame. For every thing, in which the enemies rejoice, ifit

comes

to their heart, holds

them

back from

them

and their deeds\

We

see also those

who

^play on the lyre, that

when

one of

them

plays

by

himself in the theatre, he often employs his art carelessly: but

when

he goes

down

to the contest against the other players, his fellows, then he not only recalls his

mind

from wandering, but he

awakens

and strengthens also the strings of his lyre and puts

them

ⁱⁿ

good

order for the contest.

Thus

also

must

he

who

^is conscious that he is going

down

into the battle with his enemies in order to conquer

them by

his prowess or that they

may

conquer him, watch especially over himself

and

like that player on the lyre see to himself and his deeds.

For

this also is a

mark

of evil that a

man

^is

more

In document REESE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Class (Page 21-24)